"High food prices are of major concern especially for low-income food deficit countries that may face problems financing food imports and for poor households which spend a large share of their income on food," said Abbassian.

Responding to the FAO's announcement, Oxfam said the latest price rises "should ring alarm bells in capitals around the world."

"If prices remain high, it will be just a matter of months before the world's poor are hit by another major food price crisis," said Chris Leather, the charity's policy advisor. Governments need to act now and act together to stop the rot.

"High global food prices risk hunger for millions of people. Poor people in developing countries spend up to 80% of their income on food. For them high food prices mean selling off their land or sacrificing their child's education simply to put food on the table."

"What has happened in Tunisia and is happening right now in Egypt, but also the riots in Morocco, Algeria, Pakistan, are related not only to high unemployment rates and to income and wealth inequality, but also to the very sharp rise in food and commodity prices," he told CNN.